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Thursday August 10, 2017

THE NBA has issued a memo to teams this week advising of scheduling changes to impact player participation, according to the ESPN.

The season has been extended for a week starting earlier in October, and several rules are being put in place to disincen-tivize the stars from resting so much. ESPN, which is reporting on this, is also in a position to be a benefi ciary of changes, as a broadcast partner. Last year, there were several moments where ESPN on-air personalities complained about stars resting in prime-time games.

The changes include:No four games in fi ve days

stretches;Fewer than 18 games over

every 30 day period;Reduction of fi ve games in

seven days stretches for each team, by cutting those types of scenarios in half (40 total occurrences next season versus 90 times last year);

Forty fewer back-to-back games this upcoming season;

More weekend games, even during football season. (SD-Agencies)

NBA changing rules to avoid so many players resting

DENIS SHAPOVALOV of Canada had to fi ght back from a fi rst-set loss to oust Rogerio Dutra Silva of Brazil 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 in Montreal on Tuesday, but he was able to keep his record in Rogers Cup openers intact.

The 18-year-old engaged in a fi erce battle with his 33-year-old opponent, needing a lengthy tiebreak and saving four match points to claim the second set before powering his way to a third-set victory to win the match.

The youngster showed a varied skillset in dispatching Dutra Silva, including a strong forehand at the net to win a cru-cial second-set rally.

Shapovalov didn’t only rely on power, however. He also showed that he had a deft touch at the net later in the second set, volleying a soft backhand during the tie-break that ultimately swung the match in his favor.

Moving on to the second round, Shapovalov will face Argentine Juan Martin del Potro in the next match.

Genie Bouchard’s day started off poorly, with the top-raked Canadian women’s player fall-ing in straight sets to Donna Vekic in the singles draw, but she found a silver lining in the doubles competition.

Alongside partner Karolina

Shapovalov impresses in Rogers Cup

Pliskova, Bouchard advanced to the second round after defeating Dominika Cibulkova and Kirsten Flipkens 6-4, 6-2.

Played just hours after Bouchard dropped her singles match, there was some concern that the 23-year-old would not be able to perform due to an ankle issue. However, Bouchard dispelled any talk of an injury hampering her.

“I felt fi ne out there with my ankle,” Bouchard told reporters after the match.

Pliskova and Bouchard are not

regularly a doubles team, and the Montreal native explained after the match that a simple text mes-sage led to her partnership with the world No. 1 on the court in Toronto.

The newly-formed duo is scheduled to face Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Kveta Peschke in the second round.

Fresh off a breakout tourna-ment in Washington, D.C., 17-year-old Bianca Andreescu had a tougher time on home soil as she lost 6-4, 6-1 to Hungary’s Timea Babos. (SD-Agencies)

Denis Shapovalov of Canada serves against Rogerio Dutra Silva of Brazil during the Rogers Cup tennis tournament in Montreal, Canada, on Tuesday. SD-Agencies

WAYDE VAN NIEKERK strug-gled as much with the chilly weather as with his rivals as he completed the fi rst stage of a likely double at these world championships with victory in the 400m Tuesday– but the night was mired in controversy after his main rival, the Botswa-nan Isaac Makwala, was barred from running.

World and Olympic champion van Niekerk fi nished well clear in 43.98 seconds. Steven Gardiner of Bahamas clocked 44.41 for the silver and was followed at heel by Abdalelah Haroun of Qatar in 44.48.

However, it was Makwala’s sickness that dominated the eve-ning, especially after the world’s second-best 400m runner was denied entry to the London Sta-dium because he was suffering from an infectious disease that required him to be quarantined in his room for 48 hours.

That seemed a logical deci-sion given Makwala had been ill before the 200m heats Monday and these championships have been hit by more than 30 cases of gastroenteritis, particularly to Canadian and German athletes. But it was angrily criticized by Makwala, who took to Facebook to claim that, when he arrived at the stadium, he was the victim of a “government trap.”

In a statement the IAAF said it had sympathy with Makwala but it had to think of the welfare of all the athletes given the outbreak of gastroenteritis, which has plagued these championships.

Meanwhile, the women’s javelin throw saw a strong surge from veteran Barbora Spota-kova, 36, while China reaped two medals through Li Lingwei and Lyu Huihui.

Spotakova set the winning mark of 66.76 meters in her second attempt. China’s Li Ling-wei, a two-time Asian champion, produced her career best of 66.25 to take the silver while her team-mate Lyu Huihui, who set a new Asian record in the qualifi cation of 67.49 Sunday, settled for the bronze in 65.26. (SD-Xinhua)

Van Niekerk wins 400m

Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa com-petes during the 400m fi nal in London, Britain, on Tuesday. SD-Agencies

REAL Madrid claimed the UEFA Super Cup with a 2-1 victory over Manchester United in Skopje on Tuesday.

Goals from Casemiro and Isco secured a fully-deserved triumph for the Champions League hold-ers, who have now won the trophy three times since 2014.

Romelu Lukaku halved the defi cit on his competitive debut, but the Europa League winners looked well short of matching Madrid for much of the encoun-ter in a hot and humid Philip II Arena, where drinks breaks were required.

United beat Madrid on penal-ties after a 1-1 draw in the Inter-national Champions Cup last month, but they were second best for the majority against Zinedine Zidane’s side, for whom Gareth Bale started and Cristiano Ron-aldo made a late cameo appear-ance as a substitute.

Jose Mourinho handed fi rst competitive starts to Lukaku, Nemanja Matic and Victor Lin-delof, but it looked unlikely that he would celebrate a win over his old club from the moment Casemiro broke the deadlock after 24 minutes.

Isco’s superb second put Madrid in control in the second half and, although Lukaku gave United some hope of a come-back, Zidane’s side held fi rm to win their sixth trophy since the Frenchman took charge last January.

United looked the more settled in the early exchanges, but it

Casemiro, Isco seal Super Cup win

was Madrid that came closest to breaking the deadlock, with Bale prodding a volley over from six meters before Casemiro rattled the crossbar from a Toni Kroos corner.

Madrid players were slowly taking control of proceedings and they made the most of their superiority after 24 minutes.

Dani Carvajal, given far too much space 30 meters from goal, clipped a fi ne pass into Casemiro’s path and the Brazil-ian steered a fi ne fi rst-time fi nish

into the bottom-right corner from 12 meters out, although replays showed he had strayed just beyond the United defense too early.

David de Gea saved well from a low Karim Benzema effort, as Madrid looked content to sit back and hit United on the break towards the end of the half, with Mourinho’s men unable to fash-ion any service for Lukaku aside from a deep cross that he headed straight at Keylor Navas.

Mourinho introduced Marcus

Rashford for Jesse Lingard at half-time, but Madrid threat-ened a second more or less from kick-off, with De Gea making a terrifi c one-handed save to keep out Kroos’ rasping effort from 20 meters.

But De Gea was helpless against Isco after 52 minutes, the Spain international playing a simple one-two with Bale that carved the United defense in two before slotting the ball beneath the goalkeeper and into the net. (SD-Agencies)

Real Madrid’s Casemiro lifts the trophy as he and his teammates celebrate winning the Super Cup fi nal against Manchester United in Skopje, Macedonia, on Tuesday. SD-Agencies